Categories
PC PlayStation 4 Reviews Switch Video Games Xbox One

“The Outer Worlds” Review

 

As fun as Fallout 3, 4, and New Vegas may have been, they’re not great as straight shooters; you really have to use the V.A.T.S. targeting system. But it’s a complaint action fans won’t be making about The Outer Worlds (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Switch), a Fallout-esque open world, sci-fi action role-playing adventure game from the good people of Obsidian Entertainment — a.k.a., the Fallout: New Vegas folk. And while this has its own problems, it still manages to be as effortlessly fun as, well, you know.

Categories
PC PlayStation 4 Reviews Video Games Xbox One

The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man Of Medan Review

 

In 2015, when Supermassive made the interactive horror movie game Until Dawn, they showed that while they could do the interactive part better than some other movie game people we could mention (and will in a moment), they had a harder time with the horror. Thankfully, they seem to have learned from their mistakes with The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man Of Medan (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC). Not only does it have enough interesting interactivity to keep you paying attention, but it’s pretty scary as well.

Categories
PC PlayStation 4 Reviews Video Games Xbox One

“Control” Video Game Review

 

There’s a fine line between “retro” and “dated.” While some things still feel fresh long after people stop doing that kind of thing, others are behind the times or out of step and thus feel like they belong to another, less interesting era. It is in the latter category that we largely find the third-person survival horror shooter Control (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC), which often feels like a relic from ten, fifteen years ago, and is far the worse for it.

Categories
Books PC PlayStation 4 Switch Video Games Xbox One

Exclusive Interview: “Alien: Isolation” Author Keith R.A. DeCandido

 

Though it came out five years ago, the stealth action game Alien: Isolation seems to be as resilent as its titular hero. A companion online show Alien: Isolation: The Digital Series came out in February; a Switch version of the game is scheduled for the end of the year; and now, for gamers who read, there’s an eponymous novelization that expands the story in interesting ways.

In the following email interview, author Keith R.A. DeCandido talks about how he came to write Alien: Isolation (paperback, Kindle), what it adds to the game’s narrative, and whether his expansions would work in the game.

Categories
PC PlayStation 4 Reviews Switch Video Games Xbox One

Wolfenstein: Youngblood Review

Shooting Nazis in the Wolfenstein games has always been a solitary experience. But while that’s not the case with Wolfenstein: Youngblood (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Switch), this first-person shooter has some issues that only exist because it’s a co-op game that you can play solo, and not the other way around.

Categories
PC PlayStation 4 Reviews Video Games Xbox One

Rage 2 Review

Between Far Cry New Dawn, Anthem, and Days Gone, no one would fault you for not wanting to play yet another open world, post-apocalyptic / damaged world shooter like Rage 2 (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC). Which is too bad since this sequel to the 2011 cult classic is not only on par with some of those games — and far better than others — but it also has some unique aspects as well.

Categories
PlayStation 4 Reviews Video Games

Days Gone Video Game Review

 

Like many game designers, the good people at SIE Bend Studio who made the new third-person open world shooter Days Gone (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 4 Collector’s Edition) have clearly played a lot of other people’s video games. But while theirs may be the culmination of a lifetime of playing games, Days Gone does have some new ideas, as well as interesting combinations of old ones, and the results are compelling and a bit unnerving.

Categories
PC PlayStation 4 Reviews Switch Video Games Xbox One

“Mortal Kombat 11” Single-Player Review

 

While the Mortal Kombat games have always favored those who’d prefer to fight with friends, there are many fans of this fighting game series who’d rather to go it alone. It is for this latter group — of which I am a proud member — that I present the following review of Mortal Kombat 11 (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Switch) as a single-player game.

Categories
PC PlayStation 4 Reviews Video Games Xbox One

“Far Cry New Dawn” Review

 

At the end of Far Cry 5, a massive nuclear attack destroyed the civilized world. It is the aftermath of this apocalypse that we find Far Cry New Dawn (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC). But while it doesn’t take advantage of the new setting as much as it could, it still manages to be the most engaging Far Cry game since this series changed from a straight sci-fi shooter to an open world role-playing gun game with 2008’s Far Cry 2.